Origin 2020: New skipper James Tedesco on mission to lift NSW Blues
James Tedesco has wasted little time stamping his authority as Blues captain for Origin II by offering a helping hand to under-fire halfback Nathan Cleary.
NRL
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James Tedesco can’t remember captaining at any level. Not when he was a junior at Camden nor rising through the junior grades at the Wests Tigers.
He certainly has not led an NRL side but come Wednesday night he will join the likes of Brad Fittler, Paul Gallen, Wayne Pearce, Andrew Johns and Laurie Daley as a Blues skipper.
Tedesco will be the first player in 28 years to captain NSW without any club experience since Daley in 1992. He has wasted little time in stamping his authority by offering a helping hand to under-fire halfback Nathan Cleary.
“I can’t remember if I was,” Tedesco said when quizzed if he had ever led a side. “Maybe at (school with) St Gregory’s but that’s a maybe.
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“As I’ve got older I’ve wanted to increase my leadership. I want to be a leader and this is a pretty good time to be one — game two in State of Origin.”
Tedesco was named the Blues vice-captain last year in his first major leadership role. When coach Fittler was told of Tedesco’s lack of leadership experience, he jokingly said ‘maybe I’ve made a bad decision’, but Fittler is adamant Tedesco is ready for the role.
“I don’t care if he captains well, we just need to play well,” Fittler said.
“When we made him vice-captain last year I thought he stepped up. He’s now stepping up again and we’ll see if he can go to another level.
“He’s a very quiet sort of bloke. I don’t know if anybody knows him that well, but I love what he does on the field, the way he trains and when he has input there’s always thought behind it.”
Tedesco has replaced Sydney Roosters teammate Boyd Cordner as skipper.
Cordner has led Tedesco at club, state and international level and the injured back-rower has captained the Blues in the past 10 matches since Paul Gallen’s retirement in 2016.
Gallen, Cordner and Robbie Farah have been the only Blues captains in the past 10 years. Tedesco said “everyone needed to step up” in Cordner’s absence.
“It’s been a while since we haven’t had Boyd here,” Tedesco said. “He’s always been the inspirational talker but we can try and lift each other and be more accountable.
“It motivates me to take control and be accountable for this team. Sometimes as a player you can worry about yourself, and want the best for yourself, but as a captain you own the team.
“That responsibility is cool.”
One of the first people Tedesco reached out to when he was given the role was Cleary. He offered Cleary some wise words after the halfback survived the axe.
“He’s been the best player all year,” Tedesco said. “Sometimes the external pressures can get the best of us. I had some words for him and told him to ‘not to think about a big game too much and just play your footy’.
“There’s more external pressure and expectation, but we all know how good he is and it’s all about trusting himself because we have all the trust in world in him.”
Tedesco overcame a knee injury to play last Wednesday. He finished with a game-high 262 metres.
“At the start I was a bit hesitant,” he said. “I had a few errors. But as I got into the game I didn‘t think about it [the knee] or feel it.’’
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Originally published as Origin 2020: New skipper James Tedesco on mission to lift NSW Blues